524 
The Ohio Naturalist. 
[Vol. XV, No. 7, 
“Plant Breeding ” 1 by Professor L. H. Bailey has been 
revised and brought up to date by Professor A. W. Gilbert of Cor¬ 
nell University. The book as it now appears is a great improve¬ 
ment over previous editions. One of its very commendable 
features in Appendix E which gives specific directions for labora¬ 
tory and field work. Altho quite thorolv revised there are still 
some of the ear marks of the old views left which do not always 
coincide with the newer ones. It would perhaps have been 
better to have written an entirely new book. 
There are a few errors which might have been avoided if the 
copy had been read more closely. On page 112, pumpkin is given 
as Cucurbita pepo and the squash as Cucurbita maxima, while 
on page 129 squashes are said to be Cucurbita pepo. 
It is very unfortunate that pollen-grains are contrasted with 
eggs cells, as if the word pollen-grain were synonymous with sperm 
cell. Such a mistake in terminology, as has been pointed out by 
various writers, can only lead to confusion. Some gymnosperms 
have as high as 16 sperms in the male gametophyte. Each one 
of the two sperms of the pollen grain of angiosperms has a separate 
effect in heredity, one going to fertilize the egg and the other 
uniting with the two polar nuclei. How could one possibly 
make clear the checkered arrangement of the endosperm of hybrid 
com, if no distinction is made between a male gametophyte of 
three cells and the single cell of a true spermatozoid ? 
When it comes to a matter of plant genetics no middle ground 
is possible; the old morphological terminology is false, as it was 
invented when fundamentally erroneous notions were held in 
regard to many of the essential structures of plants. 
What we need, is to follow the terminology of modem cytolog- 
ists and morphologists and all confusion will be avoided. 
J. H. S. 
1. Plant Breeding, by L. H. Bailey. New edition revised by Arthur 
W. Gilbert, Ph. D., professor of plant-breeding, in the New York State 
College of Agriculture at Cornell University. Pp. xviii+474; 113 illus. The 
Rural Science Series (edited by L. H. Bailey); The Macmillan Company, 
New York, 1915. Price $2.00 net. 
Date of Publication, May 10, 1915. 
